


Fears Realised

by LBibliophile



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Drabble Collection, Gen, Immortality, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, SHIELDRA, Spies & Secret Agents, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, They all need hugs, Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, exactly 100 words per chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 09:25:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16385453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBibliophile/pseuds/LBibliophile
Summary: 6 drabbles, 6 Avengers, 6 times they discovered their greatest fear by having it come true





	1. Tony: Metal

Most of Tony’s nightmares are silent.

Being waterboarded in Afghanistan, he has to hold his breath. Ob- Stane stealing his heart, he is paralysed. Floating in the void beyond the wormhole, there is only emptiness.

But when he dreams of metal –  _deadly shards burrowing towards his heart,_ _sharp blades ripping his chest open,_ _copper blood heavy on his tongue and in his nose,_ _the iron angel of death with his name emblazoned on the side_ – then, then he screams.

He screams, and wakes to the echoes. Retreats to his workshop. Reminds himself of the metal he wears as a shield.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is based on the the start of chapter 3 in another of my fics, [I am Iron... Werewolf?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686938/chapters/34471278)


	2. Clint: Blue

_Remember. Blue can be good, blue can be safe._

Steve’s eyes are blue (he only looked to confirm the history books, really)  
Natasha’s blanket is blue (the fluffy one he gave her, that she pretends she doesn’t adore)  
Bruce’s pens are blue (scattered scraps of paper with scribbled equations proclaim ‘Bruce Banner was here’)  
Thor’s poptarts are blue (his favourite flavour, although Clint can’t taste any difference)  
Tony’s arc reactor is blue (almost that same shade, almost, but not quite)

_Remember. Blue can be good, blue can be safe._

Natasha’s ledger is written in red, but his is glowing blue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly different style to the other drabbles in this series. Also, instead of being set firmly in the MCU, it is vaguely inspired by all the Avengers' Tower AUs.


	3. Natasha: Truth and Lies

She will never admit it, but it was Natasha Romanoff who made the decision to release all SHIELDRA’s files, not the Black Widow.

The Black Widow would have thought about the agents she was compromising, the reasons  _why_  certain information was classified. She would have thought about and weighed consequences.

All Natasha thought about was betrayal. SHIELD was her fresh start, a chance to balance the red in her ledger. To find it was actually HYDRA… She burned to tear them apart, expose their lies.

All Natasha saw was the lines in her ledger, the black ink turning to red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Hydra needed to be exposed. Not sure that burning _everyone_ was the best way to go about doing so...


	4. Bruce: Control(led)

A giant green rage monster is a weapon; defined by the one who controls it.

A general tried. Poking the monster to life. Attempting to cage it. Chasing wherever it tries to run. Destruction blooming whenever he comes too close.

A scientist tried. Learns the triggers. Keeps it calm, buried inside. Running whenever threats approach. Tries to release its destruction only where deserved.

A witch tried. Drags the monster to life. Breaking it free from hard-won restraint. Feeds its mindless rage with her own. Aims its destruction for maximum impact.

The scientist wakes in the rubble of senseless destruction.

Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Wanda attacked the Avengers, the others only saw their nightmares; Bruce enacted his...


	5. Thor: Mortality

Thor fears Steve. Not for his anger or skill; but his sadness.

Thor is a god; his lifespan will last thousands of Midgardian years. Yet he has chosen to tether himself to this mortal realm, these mortal friends.

Even if they survive their dangerous lives, they will age and die. A few years, decades at most, they will all be gone. And he will have to live the rest of his lifetime with only their memory.

Thor fears Steve, because in him he sees the wounds such loss leaves behind.

 

(It is not his mortal friends he should fear for…)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because then _Thor: Ragnarok_ happened...


	6. Steve: Reaching

Steve saw Bucky die. Saw him fall from the train decades and a lifetime ago. He grieved for him.

Then Steve wakes; 70 years in the future. It feels like a dream.

Bucky is alive again, but doesn’t know him.  
Bucky remembers him, but runs and hides.  
Bucky is found, but his brainwashing takes over.  
Bucky chooses cryo, while they try to help him.  
Then it is war, fighting side-by-side together once more; a dream come true.

Bucky alive has always been like a dream, fading in and out of focus.

A snap of golden fingers, and Steve wakes.

Alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way Steve and Bucky's fates mirror each other makes them simultaneously so lucky and unlucky


End file.
